Poison Is A Bitch
by Rose Muto
Summary: Castiel appears before the Winchesters after getting attacked by a group of angels but they soon find out that he is sick. But what does that really mean? Destiel fluff


Dean was sitting on one of the beds of the motel room when he heard the fluttering of wings and fabric. He turned to find Castiel standing beside the front door. "Hey Cas." The hunter straightened up as he greeted the angel.

When no response came, Dean stood up and started walking towards Castiel. "Cas?"

"Dean…" Castiel started to speak but was cut short as his legs gave out from underneath him.

Dean raced forward, just barely catching him. He slowly sank to the floor holding Castiel the entire time. "What the hell happened?"

Castiel's breaths were coming in short shallow gasps. "Dean…I…" He was trying so hard to speak but the inability to get air was hindering him.

Dean looked around the motel room frantically. "Sam!" He shouted out.

The bathroom door opened and Sam popped his head out. Upon seeing Dean sitting on the floor hold Castiel, Sam raced to his brother's side. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He just collapsed. What do we do?"

"First thing we need to do is stop him from hyperventilating." Sam said noticing the way Cas was breathing. He stood and hurriedly emptied the bag of burgers that were sitting on the kitchenette table. He returned to Dean's side and placed the bag over Cas' mouth and nose. "This should help some."

Dean watched as the bag inflated and deflated while Castiel breathed into it. It seemed to be working as Castiel was being able to take deeper breaths.

"Let's lay him down." Sam ordered. Dean obeyed and carried Castiel over to the bed he had been sitting on previously. He laid the angel on his back and grabbed the bag from Sam's hand. "Cas, you need to hold this up to your mouth."

Castiel nodded raising a weak hand and taking the bag from Dean. He placed it where Sam had put it in the first place.

The two brothers stood there as Castiel continued to breathe into the bag. After a couple of minutes Dean spoke, repeating his question from earlier. "What the hell happened to you?"

It was a bit before Castiel responded. "I was…taking on a group of angels. Some of Raphael's followers…"

The brothers looked at one another. Dean turned back to Castiel. "Are you insane? You can't just take on a group of angel's by yourself. You're just one angel."

Castiel closed his eyes in response. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was just lie here and rest.

Dean leaned down and brushed some of the dirt off of the angel's face. However, his hand froze once it reached Castiel's forehead. "You're burning up."

Sam instinctively ran over to his bag and pulled out a thermometer. Once he returned to the bed, he handed the thermometer to Dean.

"Cas, I need you to move the bag."

Castiel hesitantly removed the bag from his face and finding he could still get a good breath, relaxed a bit.

"Open your mouth." Dean ordered as he moved closer to Castiel. Once Castiel's mouth was open, Dean placed the thermometer in his mouth. "Keep this under your tongue until I take it out."

Castiel nodded to Dean. He was still panting some but at least he wasn't hyperventilating.

Silence filled the room until Dean took the glass tube out of Castiel's mouth. He squinted as he read the small black numbers etched into the glass. "101 degrees." Dean sighed as he gave the thermometer back to Sam. "Alright Cas, tell us everything that happened."

Castiel sat up a little. "I was attacked by a group of Raphael's followers. They wanted to take me to him, probably to kill me, but I fought back. I managed not to get hit by their blades as well as not to kill any of them. Instead I just teleported here as fast as I could."

Dean looked to Sam. "When did you start to not be able to breathe?"

Castiel looked up at Dean. "I don't really know. I didn't really have time to notice anything while I was fighting."

"So you weren't feeling bad before you got attacked?" Sam asked.

The angel shook his head. He didn't really notice until he was standing in this motel room, panting from his fight or that is what he thought. Suddenly Castiel became very dizzy and leaned back into the bed, resting a hand on his head. He definitely didn't feel good right now and all he wanted to do was get rid of this feeling.

Dean looked over at Castiel and sighed. "You need to rest now, so let me and Sam figure out what is going on. Get some sleep. It'll help some."

Castiel didn't need much persuasion as he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

:::::::::::::

When Castiel awoke, he was lying on the same bed as before but now he was covered up with the blanket that had been previously at the end of the bed. He sat up slightly and immediately regretted his decision to do so. Lying back down on the pillows behind his head, Castiel looked around the motel.

"How are you feeling?"

Castiel jumped at the sudden voice. He turned and saw Dean standing by the bathroom door drying his face off.

"Not much better."

Dean walked over to Castiel and placed his hand on the angel's forehead.

Castiel's heart started to race at the sudden touch. One thing he knew about Dean was that he never touched anyone without necessity and so he had never really touched Castiel like this before. Dean's hand was cool and felt great against Castiel's burning forehead. He wanted Dean just to keep his hand there and was a little saddened when he pulled it away.

"Well you still have a fever. Sam is out getting some food as well as some meds to get your fever down."

Castiel tilted his head to the side. He didn't quite understand the need to bring down his fever or what a fever really was. However, he didn't question it.

Dean sat down on the bed next to Castiel. He watched the angel rubbed his eyes sleepily. He had never seen Castiel like this before and it kind of freaked him out. He didn't even know angels could get sick let alone be able to sleep if they wanted to.

Castiel noticed Dean watching him. "Dean?"

"Hm?" Dean answered still lost in thought.

"Am I entertaining or something?"

Dean looked surprised. "What? No, of course not."

"Then why are you staring at me so intently?"

Dean sat up a little straighter. "I'm just making sure you are okay." He turned his face so Castiel couldn't see his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.

Suddenly the door opened and Sam walked in. He walked over to the table and laid all the bags on top of it. He pulled out a burger for Dean and tossed it too him. "So I got some soup if you're hungry Cas."

The angel made a face as he watched Dean bite into his burger. "I'm fine for now thank you." Food didn't look the least bit appealing at this point.

"Cas, you got to eat something." Dean urged as he continued to eat his burger. "You've got to keep your body nourished and hydrated."

Castiel again made a face. He really didn't feel like eating anything, just the thought of any food was enough to make his head spin.

Sam walked over and handed Castiel a glass of water along with two pills. "These should help you start to feel better."

Castiel took the water and pills out of Sam's hands. He popped them into his mouth and swallowed without any thought. All he wanted right now was to start feeling better. He hated this so much.

"Just rest some more." Dean said walking toward the table.

Both Winchesters sat down at the table ready to try and figure out if angels really could get sick.

Castiel rolled over on the bed. After a while of lying there with his eyes open, he decided that the best thing to do was to sleep. After all Dean had told him to rest so what better way. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep again.

::::::::::::

Dean watched the sick angel fall asleep. "So what do you think we should do?"

Sam sighed at his brother's question. "Well the only thing I can think of is to talk to another angel."

Dean looked over at Sam. "How the hell are we supposed to find another angel when there is a Civil War happening upstairs? Not to mention we are probably public enemy number one, since we stopped the apocalypse."

Sam was quiet for a few minutes and he thought over everything. Finally he spoke:

"What about Balthazar?"

"I doubt he is going to come to us willingly since, you know, we tried to kill him last time we saw him." Dean stood up from the table. He was trying to keep a low quiet voice as not to wake up Castiel.

"Well he is the only angel that we have a chance of getting in touch with." Sam also stood up. He placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's the only thing we can do."

Dean brushed Sam's hand off and walked toward the door to the motel. He motioned for Sam to follow.

Once outside Dean spoke. "Fine, I don't like this but if we have no other choice then okay." Dean looked at Sam seriously. "You get to call him though."

"Fine." Sam stated as he walked over next to the impala.

It was quite for a long while as Sam came up with what he was going to say to Balthazar. Finally Sam stepped away from the impala.

"Dear Balthazar, its Sam and Dean. I know we are probably the last people you want to hear from but we need your help. It's about Castiel."

Dean watched as Sam prayed to Balthazar. Once Sam had finished, Dean walked to Sam's side and handed him a beer from the backseat of the impala.

They stood there and waited a good while, but nothing happened.

"I guess he isn't coming." Dean said. He looked really disappointed. This was one of their only options and of course it wasn't going to go how they wanted.

The brothers headed toward the door of the motel, but stopped when they heard the flapping of wings behind them.

"Sorry it took so long. I was in the middle of something when you called."

Standing behind the impala was the angel Balthazar. He smiled at the boys.

"I didn't think you would actually show, you know, all things considering." Dean took another drink of his beer.

"Well life is full of surprises and I'm feeling especially nice today." Balthazar suddenly appeared next to the boys. "And besides, I still owe Castiel."

Dean and Sam looked at one another.

"So tell me, what do you need my help for?" Balthazar took Sam's beer from him and sniffed it. He made a face and handed the beer back.

"Well…" Sam started as he took back his beer. "Castiel is sick and we were wondering if that is possible. I know that you all aren't affected by normal human things but…"

Balthazar interrupted Sam. "Sick? Like sick how?"

"He has a fever and he came to us last night about to pass out from hyperventilating." Dean said as he looked back towards the motel room where they had left Castiel.

Balthazar's face showed his surprise before he even spoke. "I've never heard of an angel getting sick." He fell silent as he thought about it some more. "I'm going to need to see him."

Dean nodded and walked him to the door of the motel. He opened the door and the three men entered the small room.

Balthazar walked to where Castiel was curled up on the bed still sleeping. He placed a hand on Castiel's shoulder and closed his eyes. The other angel stayed that way for quite a while. Finally he backed away and sat down on the other bed.

"Well?" Sam and Dean said in unison.

"I know angels can't get sick but they can get poisoned. And from what I just gathered from Castiel, I'm almost positive it is poison."

Both of the Winchester's faces looked horrified.

"What can we do to stop it?" Dean basically jumped on top of Balthazar.

"Well we have to figure out what kind of poison it is and how it was administered." Balthazar leaned back since Dean was now really close to him.

"So where do we start?" Sam asked. He didn't have a good feeling about this at all.

"We got to wake up sleeping beauty." Balthazar stood and grabbed a hold of Castiel's arm. He started to violently shake him.

It didn't take long for Castiel to wake up. In fact when he did, he almost fell off the bed from being startled. Castiel looked up at the three men standing above him.

"Balthazar?" He questioned. His voice sounded gruff and sleepy as well as a little pathetic.

"Hello sunshine." Balthazar smiled and rubbed his hands together. "It's time for your check up from Dr. Balthazar."

Castiel turned his head to Dean, his blue eyes shining with confusion.

"Now why don't you tell me every little detail about the attack last night." Balthazar sat down next to Castiel. He slowly started to inspect every inch of his brother's body or what he could see anyway.

Castiel told Balthazar exactly what he had told Dean and Sam the night before.

"So you didn't inhale anything? Drink anything?" Balthazar was now trying to get specifics.

Castiel shook his head. "No, they just attacked. I did my best to knock them out without killing them."

"Did any of them cut you or hit you in any way?"

This time Castiel sat still trying to sort out what actually happened the night before. "Well I didn't get cut but…at one point one the angels grabbed me and held me still as another punched me in the stomach. I managed to slip out of his grasp after that, but that is about it."

Balthazar snapped his fingers. "That's what I was looking for." Suddenly the angel was ripping the covers off his younger brother. He then proceeded to un-tuck Castiel's shirt and pulled it up.

Castiel looked at his brother in shock and embarrassment, his face turning a slight shade of pink. "What are you doing?"

"What the bloody hell does it look like?"

Castiel felt Balthazar's hand start running across his stomach.

"Ah-ha!" Balthazar's fingers had stopped moving and were not touching one spot on Castiel's stomach. "Found you, you little bugger."

Dean and Sam watched as Balthazar disappeared and then reappeared in the kitchen.

"What are you looking for?" Sam asked.

"You don't happen to have a syringe, do you?" Balthazar was looking through the drawers and cupboards of the kitchen.

"What makes you think we would have something like that?" Dean answered. "And what the hell do you need one for?"

Again Balthazar disappeared. This time it took him a bit to reappear and when he did he was next to Castiel again. He held up a syringe and inspected it. "This should do nicely." Without another word, Balthazar plunged the syringe into the spot he had been messing with earlier.

A look of surprise and pain came onto Castiel's face as the syringe was pushed inside of him.

Dean stepped forward and grabbed Balthazar's shoulder, pulling the angel away from Castiel as well as pulling out the syringe.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean yelled.

"Getting a blood sample, what the bloody hell does it look like?" Balthazar stood from where he had been kneeling. "Are you that daft?"

He walked pasted Dean and squirted the blood out of the syringe into a small bowl. He then started to draw on the kitchen table with a piece of chalk.

"Now what is he doing?" Dean murmured to Sam.

Sam shrugged.

"Do you always ask stupid questions?" Balthazar had finished drawing with the chalk and was now looking toward the two Winchesters. "If you must know, I'm trying to figure out what kind of poison we are messing with here. Don't really want kill Castiel on accident now do we?"

Dean looked back at Castiel. He didn't look all too pleased to being manhandled like he had been. Castiel had pulled his shirt down and was recovering himself with the blanket. Dean could see him shivering a bit as he tried to get comfortable again.

Balthazar had placed the bowl with Castiel's blood in the center of the strange symbol he had drawn and was now leaning over it, chanting something in Enochian.

It was a while before anyone spoke and the silence was only broken by Castiel coughing.

"Well this is one nasty poison we've got on our hands."

"What do we do then?" Sam questioned.

"We have to make a cure. Of course it isn't going to be easy." Balthazar sighed. He was getting sick of all the questions.

Dean sat down on the bed next to the one Castiel was occupying.

"What do we need?" Sam asked after a moment of silence.

"It isn't going to be easy getting all the supplies we will need. Some of the ingredients cannot be found here on earth anymore."

Both Winchesters looked worriedly at Balthazar.

"Then where in the hell…" Dean was interrupted by a hand being slapped over his mouth.

"You really need to stop asking so many bloody questions." Balthazar removed his hand from Dean's mouth and continued to speak. "To get some of the ingredients, I'm going to have to sneak back into heaven so while I'm gone I'm going to need you two to collect everything else."

Balthazar handed them a piece of paper with strange symbols drawn on it.

After examining the paper some, Sam spoke. "What language is this?"

"An ancient angelic language. I couldn't really write it in Enochian. If I did everyone could read it." Balthazar smiled at the boys. "Don't fret, Castiel can read it so there isn't anything to worry about. Now if you'll excuse me I must be off. Cheerio." With that he was gone.

Sam sighed as he looked at the piece of paper in his hands. "I guess we should get started as well."

::::::::::::

Castiel lay on the bed holding the piece of paper that Balthazar had left them. He was reading over the list when a hand touched his shoulder. Looking up, he realized it was Dean.

"Here." Dean handed Castiel a bowl. It was hot and seemed to hold some strange liquid inside it. "You haven't eaten yet so I figured I'd make you some soup."

Castiel took the bowl and thanked Dean. He began to stir it around with the spoon that was inside it. Food still didn't look appealing to him, but he figured he should at least try to eat something. He had read in a book a while back that it was important for sick people to stay hydrated. Maybe that was true with angels as well? Castiel didn't know and didn't really want to find out.

Dean watched and made sure that Castiel drank some of the soup before turning to his brother who was sitting on his laptop. Sam was researching the list of ingredients as Castiel had been translating.

"So any luck on where to find some of this stuff?" Dean asked. Behind him Castiel began to cough again. His coughs were becoming more frequent now and Dean didn't like that sound of them.

"Well I talked with Bobby and he said he may have some of the roots but as for things like the Galanthus fosteri, we'll have to actually buy those." Sam sat back from his computer and rubbed his eyes.

Castiel started to cough again, breaking the silence that had fallen on the room. Once he had finished he smiled sheepishly at the brothers. "I'm fine." He said trying to reassure them.

"Dean, we should go to Bobby's. It'll be better for all of us. That way we have a full kitchen to work with and Bobby said he would help out in any way he can." Sam pleaded quietly with Dean.

"Sam, I know we should, but I just don't feel comfortable moving Cas around."

As if to prove Dean's point, Castiel began another coughing fit.

Sam sighed looking at Castiel with worry on his face. "Okay. Well I'm going to go to the garden store and see if they have any of these plants." Sam pulled his coat on. "While I'm gone can you call Bobby and see what he's managed to get together?

" "Yeah, sure." Dean responded half-heartedly.

"Call me if anything happens."

Dean nodded as he watched Sam close the door. He listened as the impala roared as it drove off. He walked over to the front door. "I'm going outside to call Bobby. If you start to feel anything different you come to get me."

Castiel looked up from his soup which he had picked up again and was trying to drink. The angel nodded in recognition to what Dean said. "I promise."

Dean closed the door and pulled out his phone. He hoped Bobby at least had some good news for him.

:::::::::::::

Castiel finally had enough of the soup and set it back down on the table next to him. He sighed as he leaned back into the pillows.

He felt so helpless as he lay there starting at the ceiling. That was one thing Castiel hated, feeling helpless, powerless to stop anything. This helpless, however, seemed to overcast all the other times he had felt this way.

Suddenly he felt a wave of dizziness come over him, even though he was lying down. The room started to spin and made Castiel's stomach churn.

"ugh…" He moaned as he put a hand over his face. He closed his eyes and tried to let the feeling pass.

Once it had passed, he put his hand back at his side; however, he didn't open his eyes. Instead he tried to sleep since that seemed to be the only way to get away from this terrible feeling.

:::

Water was falling from the sky. It was something that Castiel loved to watch. He didn't understand why he loved it so much but it made him feel like all the terrible things that had happened were just washed away with the water.

Dean had told him a long time ago that this was called rain and that there wasn't anything special about it. But Castiel didn't care. He could just stand in it for hours and not have a care in the world.

Suddenly there was a crashing sound that made Castiel jump in surprise. When he turned, he saw the impala smashed up against a brick wall.

He ran as fast as he could to the side of the car. When he looked inside, he found Sam and Dean lying blooded and battered in the front seats. Castiel hurriedly grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. He grabbed Dean and pulled him out, careful not to hurt him any more then he already was.

Once Dean was lying on the ground, Castiel went to the other side and did the same thing for Sam. As he tended to the boys wounds, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

Turning around to see who the hand belonged to, Castiel's eyes opened wide in surprise and fear. There standing behind him was Raphael.

The archangel grabbed Castiel by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

Castiel tried to fight back, but found that he couldn't muster the strength do to the lack of air to his lungs. His eyes closed against his will as he started to lose consciousness.

Suddenly Castiel's eyes snapped open and he was back in the motel room. His heart was racing and he was panting. But when he tried to calm down and get a good breathe, he found he couldn't.

A pain started to come from Castiel's chest. He looked around the room terrified as he grabbed his shirt.

_Dean!_

Castiel pushed himself out of the bed and started making his way toward the door clutching his chest the entire time. He managed to make it to the kitchen table before his legs gave out and he fell to the floor. But Castiel was determined to get to Dean. He had too. He promised Dean he would let him know if anything happened. He wasn't about to go back on his promise.

He reached for the door handle after he had crawled his way there. His breath was still coming in quick short pants and gasps. The room was growing darker and darker by the second and Castiel knew he couldn't keep this up any longer.

Finally he managed to hit his hand against the door. He banged on it a couple of times before allowing his hand to collapse onto the floor and the world to go black.

::::::::::::::

Dean had just hung up the phone when he heard a series of knocks on the door to their motel room. He looked at the door confused.

The only person in there was Castiel right now, so why would there be knocking on the door?

Suddenly realization dawn on Dean and he threw the door open, almost hitting Castiel's head in the process. "Cas!" Dean shouted as he kneeled down next to the angel.

"Cas!" Dean noticed Castiel's hand gripping his chest.

Dean flipped Castiel over and placed his hand in front of Castiel's mouth. He felt the shallow puffs of air hit his hand in an uneven pattern. He thought about finding a paper bag but he didn't think that would help this time.

Dean was frantically trying to think of something to do when he felt Castiel's other had grab his sleeve. Looking down at Castiel's face, Dean saw the pleading look in his eyes.

"Damn it…what do I do?" Dean muttered to himself.

"D…Dean…pl…." Castiel gasped gripping Dean's sleeve tighter. "Please…"

Dean pulled Castiel into a tight hug. "It'll be okay. I've got you." Dean didn't know why he said this and at any other time he would have questioned this, but at the moment Dean could care less.

Castiel leaned into the embrace. He tried to get his breathing under control but it was proving difficult.

Finally Dean let go of Castiel and laid him back down on the floor. The only thing that Dean could think of to do at this point was to do CPR. At least he could then start getting oxygen to the angel's lungs.

Dean leaned down and pressed his lips against Castiel's. He was glad no one was around to see him doing this, even though he doubted anyone would say anything. He was trying to save Castiel's life.

After a couple of minutes of doing CPR, Dean could tell it was helping. The hand that had been tightening around Dean's arm was now starting to relax some.

Dean sat back and examined Castiel's state.

Castiel was now breathing normally. His chest rose and fell in perfect rhythm with Dean's. The hand that had been clutching at his shirt was now just lying on his chest. However, Dean could see him shivering slightly.

The hunter leaned down and picked up the angel. He carried him back to the bed and covered him up with all the blankets on the bed.

Once he had finished covering Castiel up, he pulled out his phone and called Sam.

"Hey Sam, how is the search going?"

"Well I managed to find everything but the really rare things that Bobby said he would help us get. I had to go to multiple stores and let me tell you some old women really want their plants." Sam's voice came from the other end.

"Sam…Cas…he had another episode."

Sam was quiet for a bit and then said: "Is he okay?"

"It was worse this time…but he's okay now. He's just resting, probably sleeping." Dean felt exhausted. He looked over to Castiel's sleeping form. It was hard for him to get that image of Castiel out of his head. The pleading look in his eyes as well as the hand that gripped Dean's arm left an uneasy feeling in Dean's mind.

"You heading straight over to Bobby's now?" Dean asked running a shaking hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I am. I'll try to be quick about it." Sam responded.

"See you soon, Sammy."

"Bye Dean." Dean hung up his phone and fell on to the empty bed. He put a hand on his face and breathed out heavily.

It was going to take some time to get that image of Castiel out of his head.

::::::::::::::

The sun was rising when Sam pulled into the parking lot of the motel. He had been driving all night trying to get back from Bobby's. In the backseat of the impala was all the ingredients that Balthazar had asked them to gather.

Sam turned off the car and stepped out onto the pavement. He took a deep breath in of the fresh morning air. This however caused him to yawn, which didn't help his sleep deprived state in the slightest.

He walked to the door of the motel and unlocked it. After entering he flicked on the kitchen lights. Turning away from the kitchen, he found Dean fast asleep on one of the beds. Sam walked over to his brother and began to shake him.

"Dean, wake up. I need some help unloading the Impala."

Dean slowly sat up on his elbows. He looked sleepily at Sam and then rubbed his eyes.

"Did you hear me?" Sam asked. Dean had a history of not remembering what he was just told when he just woke up.

"Yeah, just give me a second." Dean answered. He stood up and stretched his arms above his head. His sleep had been pretty restless. He had been having nightmares most of the night and kept waking up to check on Castiel.

Sam walked over to Castiel, who was curled into a small ball wrapped up in as many blankets as he could get a hold of. Sam placed a hand on the angel's forehead. He could tell his fever was getting worse which wasn't a good sign at all.

Both brothers then went out to car and started unloading all the bags and boxes in the backseat. They didn't talk much and all Sam wanted to do was sleep.

Once they were done Sam laid down on the bed Dean had been occupying. "I'm exhausted." Sam moaned.

"Get some sleep then Sammy." Dean said as he looked through the bags of ingredients, double checking everything was there. "I'll watch over Cas."

Sam just nodded to his brother and thankfully pulled the covers over himself. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and his body greeted it with much vigor.

Dean sat down at the kitchen table and opened Sam's laptop. He began to mindlessly surf the web. He didn't really care where he went or what he looked at because his mind was racing. Every so often Dean would look toward where Castiel was sleeping. He would watch to make sure his shoulders were still moving and that he was still breathing.

Hours passed like this until Dean finally had enough and walked over to Castiel's bed. He noticed that Castiel was still shivering despite being under so many covers.

Dean looked around the room making sure that Sam was still sleeping. Once he was sure Sam wouldn't wake up, Dean laid down next to Castiel, wrapping his arms around the angel's shivering body and pulling him closer. Everything in his brain kept screaming at him how not manly this was or how gay this was, but that moment Dean just cared about keeping Castiel warm.

Without meaning too, Dean fell asleep. It wasn't till he heard voices that he woke and realized what he was doing.

"Morning Dean. I didn't want to wake you up since you looked so cozy snuggled up to my brother like that." Balthazar was standing over next to Sam, who had just place a bowl on the table.

Dean sat up, his face turning a dark shade of red. He cursed to himself under his breath. Instead of snapping back at Balthazar, Dean shook Castiel's shoulder. "Cas, wake up."

Castiel's eyes slowly fluttered open. He definitely didn't look well and his coughing seemed to have gotten worse since the night before.

"Now that you two love birds are done cuddling, let's move on shall we, chaps?" Balthazar teased. "Sam, Dean, I'm going to need you two to mix all the ingredients while I finish drawing the sigils. I need to make this place basically angel proof before we get unwanted guests."

"What about you and Cas?" Dean questioned sleepily rubbing his eyes.

"That is why I said almost angel proof." Balthazar rolled his eyes.

Three men set to work and once they were done, they all crowded around the table. The only things Sam and Dean hadn't add yet were what Balthazar had taken from heaven. He had told them it was best if he handled them because they were not safe in human hands.

Balthazar pulled out multiple bags from his pockets and set them on the table next to the bowl. He slowly and carefully started adding the ingredients to the bowl, making sure not to drop any of the ingredients.

Behind them, they could hear Castiel having another coughing fit. Dean turned to look at Castiel and noticed he was hunched over as he coughed.

"Cas?" Dean quickly walked over to the sick angel. When he reached him, Dean realized there was something dripping from Castiel's lip. He reached a hand up and wiped it off. Looking down, his eyes widened. There on his fingers was blood.

"Sam, Balthazar!" Dean shouted as Castiel continued coughing.

Sam raced to his brother's side and upon seeing the blood, froze.

"Don't just stand there. Do something!" Balthazar ordered.

At the order, Sam and Dean stood Castiel up and walked him to the bathroom, setting him down next to the toilet. Dean made sure that he spit the blood into the toilet and that his head was over it as well. "Go back and help Balthazar." Dean said. "I'll take care of this."

Sam nodded and ran back over to the other angel.

Balthazar was working quicker now, but still trying to be careful. He had only a few more ingredients to add before he was done. "Sam, I need you to get me some matches."

Sam jumped into action as he started searching for the box of matches.

In the bathroom, Castiel continued to cough up blood. Dean had a hand on his back, rubbing it up and down, just like his mom and dad use to do when he was sick. He looked at Castiel, worry written all over his face. But he didn't dare say anything for fear that his voice would betray the calmness he was trying to portray even his face didn't show it.

Dean could feel Castiel shaking and heaving as more and more blood came out his mouth. Dean cursed silently under his breath at how useless he felt.

Finally Sam had found the matches and was handing one to Balthazar when there was a crash from the bathroom.

Sam ran to the door to see Dean slammed against the wall and Castiel clutching his chest in utter pain and anguish. Suddenly another force exploded from Castiel causing Sam to get pushed back.

"What's happening?" Sam shouted to Balthazar.

"It looks like we're almost out of time. His grace is beginning to destroy his vessel." Balthazar said hurriedly still mixing up the ingredients in the bowl so they would be perfect.

Dean opened his eyes and stared at the sight before him.

Castiel was literally glowing and his wings had become visible. He was standing but only because of the force of his grace trying to explode from his body. One of Castiel's eyes had started to bleed as well as his nose. He turned his head toward Dean.

Dean saw the pleading look from the night before. That look sent a shiver down Dean's spine. Dean stood up and ran out of the restroom toward Balthazar who was now throwing a match into the mix.

Dean reached him as the flame slowly dissipated and Balthazar stirred the mix one finally time. Dean grabbed a hold of the syringe they had used earlier to get Castiel's blood and squirted into the mix as Balthazar continued to stir. Then without waiting for instruction from Balthazar, plunge the syringe in and filled it. He then proceeded to run back to the bathroom. When he entered again, Castiel had collapsed back down to a kneeling position, trying desperately to hold in his grace and stop it from exploding.

Dean kneeled down next to Castiel and grabbed his arm. He didn't have time to be careful so he plunged the syringe into Castiel's arm. Dean injected Castiel with the liquid.

Minutes passed as the liquid spread throughout Castiel making him relax some and sink into Dean's arms, resting his head on the hunter's chest.

Dean leaned back against the wall and sighed. He held onto Castiel as he sat there catching his breath. He could feel Castiel's chest rising and falling in sync with his own. After a bit he started to run a hand through the angel's hair.

Sam sat on the floor just outside the bathroom where he had landed earlier. He looked over at Balthazar and nodded to him.

The other angel's lips curled into a small smirk. "Well it looks like my work here is done." He started to close up all the bags he had brought with him. "I'll get out of your hair now. Call me if anything changes." With that being said a flutter of wings was heard and Balthazar was gone.

Dean and Sam continued to sit on the floor, Dean ruffling Castiel's already messy hair. Finally Sam stood up and helped Dean bring Castiel back to his bed. They covered him up and sat down on the other bed.

No words past as they sat there watching over Castiel. An hour passed before anyone said anything.

"I'll go get us some food." Sam said standing up from the bed. Sam hadn't eaten since that morning and it was already one in the afternoon. He knew Dean hadn't eaten at all that day so he assumed he was pretty hungry.

The only response Dean gave was little nod and a soft "uh-huh." His eyes were scanning the room around him, but he wasn't really taking much in. Instead he was lost in his thoughts. It wasn't until the door had closed and the sound of the impala's roaring engine had long since died that Dean even realized that he was alone with Castiel.

The silence of the room was disrupted when a quiet voice met Dean's ears. "Dean?"

Dean looked at the source of the voice. There staring back at him with his bright blue eyes was Castiel. Dean smiled at him and placed a hand on his head, which lead to him messing with Castiel's hair.

"Hey Cas, how are you feeling?" Dean asked.

Castiel sighed and shivered at Dean's touch. "Better now, still kind of tired, but not as hot or gross." Castiel sat up to where he was leaning against the headboard of the bed as well as the pillows.

Dean moved to sit next to the angel. He let his hand run down to touch Castiel's face. He stared into Castiel's eyes the entire time, his mind going numb. Dean felt he could just get lost in the vast blue of those eyes.

Without knowing it, Dean was leaning in closer toward Castiel and Castiel was leaning toward Dean. They were mere inches from each other before they noticed anything. Both of them could feel the heat from each other's breath puffing against their faces.

"Dean…I…" Castiel tried to speak but he was unable to form a coherent sentence. His cheeks were turning a shade of red.

_'Screw it..'_ Dean thought. _'Just do it already.'_ Suddenly Dean pressed his mouth up against Castiel's. Dean noted how soft and warm his lips were against his own. However, it wasn't a very long kiss as Dean pulled away. He turned his head away but as soon as he did so he felt a hand pull his head back around.

This time it was Castiel who initiated the kiss. However, unlike last time Dean didn't pull away. Instead he kissed Castiel back vigorously, running a hand up the angel's back and into his hair.

Castiel opened his mouth as he shivered at the hand. Dean took this chance to slip his tongue into Castiel's mouth. Castiel breathed out heavily, letting out a small moan, as Dean's tongue explored the inside of his mouth. The angel could feel his and Dean's heart rates start to get faster as they continued to kiss one another.

Dean moved his mouth so that he was kissing Castiel's neck and smiled as he heard a small quiet groan of approval from the angel. He started to kiss all the way up to Castiel's ear and down to his collar bone.

"Dean…" Castiel breathed out as Dean made his way back up to his lips. Dean stayed there enjoying the feeling of Castiel's warm breath against his face and lips.

"Dean? Cas?" Dean pulled away and turned to look at where the voice had come from.

Sam was standing in the doorway holding two bags in one of his hands and the keys to the impala in the other. He had a surprised look on his face which slowly turned into a mischievous smile. "Care to explain what you guys were doing?"

Both Dean and Castiel's faces were red from embarrassment.

"Shut it, Sammy." Dean said standing up and walking over toward his brother. Once he was there, he grabbed one of bags in Sam's hand and placed it on the table. He kept his back to Sam and Castiel as he grabbed out a burger and proceeded to eat it. He quietly cursed to himself as Sam sat down next to him, smiling the entire time.

Castiel looked down at the bed covers, face still red. He didn't really understand what had just happened but that didn't matter. He put a hand up to his lips. He could still feel his heart racing in his chest.

"So, what were you doing?" Sam asked again, still smiling.

"Sam, just drop it." Dean's face was really red still and he just wanted to drop the subject.

Sam chuckled slightly. He didn't mind that they had been kissing, but he was enjoying embarrassing his older brother. He had a feeling he wasn't going to let Dean forget this anytime soon.


End file.
